Chapter 742 Cousin
Once the chicken soup was ready, Li Dalang tore off a chicken thigh, ladled out more than half a bowl of soup, responded to Shijiu Zhi who had already closed his eyes to rest, and then took his waist token and the still-warm chicken soup with him as he left the camp.
Although Guo Sanlang was the son of Guo Tuanlianshi, he did not hold a military post. Therefore, when Guo Sanlang was to accompany the army to Chang'an, he was assigned to a merchant caravan following behind the main army.
On the way back to Chang'an, the army tacitly allowed more than a dozen caravans of different sizes from the border towns to follow them. After all, following behind the army, it was safe as no petty thieves would dare to rob them on the more than a thousand miles of mountainous and valley-crossing journey.
However, Guo Sanlang was frail from childhood and was sent to his maternal family for care when he was young. He was always a weak scholar.
Therefore, Guo Sanlang, who had never traveled such a long distance before and had never followed a fast-moving army, was indeed ill.
The Guo family had already hired a coachman and an old woman to look after Guo Sanlang along the way, and Guo Silang was also by his side.
However, Guo Sanlang's health was really not up to par. He was sickly the whole way. If it weren't for the carriage he could lie down in and use for transportation, he probably wouldn't have been able to travel more than a hundred miles after leaving Shule before he died.
By the time Li Dalang found Guo Sanlang's carriage with the bowl of chicken soup, the soup had gone from boiling hot to lukewarm.
The groom, who was starting a fire, recognized Li Dalang and knew that he was a relative of the Guo family. Moreover, Li Dalang was wearing the uniform of the Shi family army, so he knew that Li Dalang was an officer.
"The sir is here? Quickly, bring him a stool."
Li Dalang waved his hand to tell the old woman to stop working. He gestured with his eyes to the bowl of chicken soup in his hand: "It was just cooked. Although it's still warm, Sanlang's health is not good. Please take it and heat it up again before giving it to Sanlang."
The old woman didn't stand on ceremony; she bowed and took the bowl of warm chicken soup, which also contained a chicken leg.
"But my cousin is here? Cough cough..."
Guo Sanlang coughed several times before he finally stopped, and Li Dalang quickly responded, "Yes, it's me."
Sanlang, are you feeling better?
My brother over there hunted a pheasant, and thinking it might be inconvenient for you here, he brought over a bowl of soup. You can heat it up later and drink it.
As Li Dalang was speaking, Guo Silang lifted the curtain of the carriage. Guo Silang was overjoyed to see Li Dalang and quickly called out, "Cousin!"
Through the lifted carriage curtain, Li Dalang saw Guo Sanlang wrapped in a quilt, half-lying and half-leaning against the carriage wall.
"Cousin, please forgive me. My health is really not good enough, so I won't invite you up for a chat, lest I pass on my illness to you."
Thank you for thinking of me, cousin. I'll drink the chicken soup afterward. *cough cough*
Seeing Guo Sanlang's appearance, Li Dalang wouldn't say anything more.
"Sanlang, have you seen a doctor?"
Should I find a military doctor to take a look at you?
I am quite familiar with several of the army doctors. Although this place isn't too far from Chang'an, it's still some distance away.
"Cough cough... No need, I already had a doctor examine me, and I've been taking the medicine, but my body is really... cough cough..."
Seeing Guo Sanlang coughing so hard he could barely breathe, Li Dalang quickly took the kettle of hot water handed over by the old woman and gave it to him. After watching Guo Silang pour the hot water and feed it to Guo Sanlang, Li Dalang took the opportunity to bow and leave.
Otherwise, if he stayed here, Guo Sanlang would have to think about how to greet him, which would go against Li Dalang's original intention of coming to take a look.
After Li Dalang returned, he told Nineteen about Guo Sanlang's illness, "...I knew he was sick, but I never expected it to be so serious."
Nineteen, with his eyes half-closed, looked at the darkening sky and replied to Li Dalang: "Sigh, Guo Sanlang has been weak since childhood. Otherwise, the Guo family are martial artists, why wouldn't they let their sons learn martial arts?"
This time, the Guo family insisted that Guo Sanlang come to Chang'an with Guo Silang. Naturally, they wanted to see Granny Li, since they were related by blood after all.
Is this two?
Naturally, he wanted to seek medical treatment for Guo Sanlang. No matter how capable Commander Guo was, that city was still a border town, and the military doctors he knew were skilled in treating external injuries. The doctors skilled in treating other ailments and recuperation were mostly in Chang'an.
Li Dalang hadn't expected this at first. He initially thought that when the Guo family said Guo Sanlang was weak, it meant he was as weak as Li Sanlang, just not as talented in martial arts as Li Dalang and Li Erlang, and not as resilient, but still as "weak" as an ordinary person.
Who would have thought that Guo Sanlang's frailty was genuine?
Moreover, they are so weak that they cannot be exposed to wind, cold, or heat, otherwise they would truly look like they are about to die.
Li Dalang shook his head. He poked at the fire with a twig and added two more dry branches to make it burn brighter. "My grandfather, second uncle, and aunt are all skilled doctors. They should be able to help. If that doesn't work, my aunt's master is an old imperial physician in the palace. He can definitely cure Sanlang."
While Li Dalang was lamenting Guo Sanlang's frail health, Guo Sanlang was drinking the chicken soup that Li Dalang had brought him.
Guo Sanlang was drinking the chicken soup, while Guo Silang was currently eating the chicken leg inside.
"Brother, our cousin is so kind. He even brought us chicken legs. We haven't been eating or sleeping well on this journey. How much longer until we reach Chang'an?"
Guo Sanlang smiled at Guo Silang, who was less than two years younger than him but still looked like a child. He coughed twice before slowly responding to Guo Silang's words: "Of course, it's good that you're my cousin. Didn't you notice that since you came just now, the caravan manager has sent someone to deliver two more buckets of water to us?"
Guo Silang swallowed the chicken in his mouth and looked up in confusion: "Huh? Is that so?"
After quickly finishing the chicken leg, Guo Silang casually wiped his greasy hands under his clothes, then lifted the curtain of the carriage window and looked out. Sure enough, water was boiling over the fire.
"Fourth Master? Who is this?"
The coachman, who was watching the fire, saw Guo Silang sticking his head out and got up to ask a question.
"Uncle Gui, what is this water?"
"It was sent by Manager Chen of the caravan. I thought I'd heat it up and then let my lord soak his feet to relieve his fatigue."
"Uncle Gui, did anyone deliver water before today?"
Uncle Gui, the coachman, was stunned for a moment before replying that there was no such thing. At this moment, the coachman also realized: "It seems that this is an extra amount given out of consideration for the military officer."
Having received confirmation, Guo Silang retreated back into the carriage. After thinking for a moment, he said to Guo Sanlang, "Brother, if Father wants us to tell the truth and tell them that we are from the Guo family and that Father is the militia commander, we should be able to receive better treatment."
"That's possible, but we're going to Chang'an this time, which is right under the emperor's nose..."
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